Vicissitudes

I added a few new photos from the summer over at paterek.us.  Not too many.  They are the last ones under Summer Fun 09.

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Putting information into the right hands is critical.  Those entrusted with special information are accountable for how they handle and what they do with that information.  When information is not handled properly, bad things happen or a situation occurs which is less than acceptable.  I am once again forced into addressing an issue which should not need addressing, especially by me.

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I don’t know how to explain it so I won’t.  Since Cole passed, life has been flipped upside down, stretched, smashed and spit back out for me to deal with.  I have my family to take care of, my parents to help, and work constantly nagging at me.  People seem to think that after a month you pick up and move on.  “What could possibly be your problem?”  I hear people complaining about the most ridiculous things, sad because someone moved away or upset about how they cannot get something they want.  I have nothing to say about that or to them.  Let them live their miserable lives worried about the meaningless things they suffer for and about.

I now know the feeling a parent suffers when the hand of God strikes down their child, the anger and pain stirred up by losing the most dear thing to their existence.  I cannot forgive that, not now, not yet, not here.  I give everything and get this in return; a hole in my life that will only be filled by seeing my son again on my dying day or the cold earth dumped over my head like I did for my son.  Life is not fair, nobody said it was.  My other children suffer too at His hand.  Lucky they will move on, I hope they manage to avoid the pains I now endure everyday.  Maybe I should not be writing this here; I guess I don’t really care.

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My son’s surgery ended four hours after it started.  Everything turned out the way the surgen said it would.  His ureters were tapered, and new valves were placed in his bladder to prevent the reflux.  This will help keep the kidney function he still has.  He is lying in bed now, kind of sleeping but not really.  I just sang him his favorite songs (the only two songs I can sing – the two songs I have been singing to him every night at bed time since the first day he came home.  We are just hanging out right now.  It doesn’t seem like he is in any pain which is very good, maybe just a bit uncomfortable, plus the TV is on so that might be bothering him a bit. Nurse is here for vitals.  Be Right Back..

<edit> I never finished this so I will post it as is.

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I’m a big cellphone user, email, text messages, the works on my VX6800.  I have friend who died at 38 from a cancerous brain tumor last year.  He like me used a cellphone since the early days of analog.  I use more email and text these days and less and less of actual chatting on the phone.  This might be hype again or paranoia an yes, everything can kill us these days.  But maybe we can move to face to face meetings and less phone chatter in our high-tech linked-in world.  <–  I never thought I would ever say anything like that.  I must be getting old.

All essentially the same article but good to see it on a few different fronts and fonts.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hwzQ6Jsq3cSWa721yR84l99_pnlAD923S7T82

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=5439074

http://www.financetechnews.com/top-cancer-doc-cautions-cellphone-users/

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/prominent-cancer-doctor-warns-about-cellphones/

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802E1D61438F930A35755C0A96E9C8B63

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The weather is breaking and that means baseball for most Americans. Not me but my two oldest sons are starting T-Ball this year instead of soccer. I am happy to see them having fun but enjoy soccer far more. Either way, like the good dad I am, their first game I took 368 photos – Almost a movie at times. I cut that down to 22 photos to post. They are here. You can also look under children to find the gallery. <edit> Photos have been removed.

The boys have their friends on the team with them and my daughter has her friend (My boy’s friend’s sister) so she is happy. Even with her friend there she spends a lot of time watching and enjoying the game. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Hmm? A new button with the upgrade! I guess I can give a slide show in the post!
Don’t you love Wordpress and Alex Rabe!?  (my part to promote the best blog software and the best Gallery – and both are free! – Thanks guys!)

<edit>While I loved NextGen Gallery I had to remove it for now.  It just doesn’t have what I am looking for.

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So I’ve been away for a while, things have been happening.  I don’t really feel like writing right now so here is a list.

1.  The boys started Baseball
2.  Riley needs another Surgery
3.  Riley needs more tests – not fun.

So that’s not much but it’s what is on my mind.  Until something interesting comes along it will have to do.  I did add some photos under the PhotoPhone section.

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Last weekend I packed up the family and headed out to maple country.  That’s almost anywhere around here but it seems that you have to drive 45+ minutes to get to a Maple Syrup farm (?).  So I didn’t actually pack up and leave, we had to stop for Tim Horton’s first, and gas, and…  Lucky me, I forgot my camera but did happen to have my camera phone!  I got one decent photo of what my son called “Miracle Land”.  Google Maps took us down (Yes down a good steep hill) a dirt road, filled with ice and snow.  Half way down we stopped because the view was amazing (no you cannot see because I didn’t have my camera).  I did get this one shot.  That’s the road, snow clinging to the trees, it was quite amazing.

The kids loved it.  They (and I) learned how maple syrup is extracted, processed and enjoyed.  98% water, that’s a lot of boiling needed.  But it’s worth it.  So what if they use reverse osmosis to extract 50% of the water out before they boil it.  We bought almost $100 in maple products, cotton candy, hard candy, maple cream, and syrup!  The smell there was amazing.  They setup a fire with a huge boiling “pot” (more of a rectangle thing) so you could smell the smoky wood fire and the maple syrup boiling off.  In that they put hot dogs, eggs (hard boiled) and other such things.  I didn’t have cash so I couldn’t get any.  We took a tractor ride up the mountain where they explained the tapping process (no buckets anymore, it’s all piping).  We will make this a yearly thing.

This is the farm we went to www.merlemaple.com.  You can find all the other places here at www.mapleweekend.com

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My lease is due on my ‘05 Pontiac Grand Prix (check out the new G8’s that took over for that model). Reluctantly I set out to look for a new car. I love this car, nice and big, but not too big. I is sporty yet doesn’t come across as a muscle car. Ride is smooth and overall an outstanding car. I had to make a decision on a car. I read reviews at www.edmunds.com searched google for reviews on cars I might like. I limited my search to US made cars, I shouldn’t get into it but mostly because I know a good 15-20 people who work for GM.

One car I liked was the new Dodge Avenger. Nice solid looking car, manly! Don’t be fooled, it’s the Sebring with some boxy modifications. I liked it because it has the “myGig” option. A stereo that has a 20GB hard drive for your MP3’s and photos. Check it out on the Dodge sight. I had a salesman work up a deal. I told him I want to pay less that $300 / month with no more than $1000 down (on a lease). He came back with $345 on his second attempt. So I told him “well, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be”.

Another car I liked was the Chevy Malabu. I hate the name but the car is nice and it won North American Car of the Year. The story here isn’t the dealer or the car but the salesman. I went to a specific Chevy dealer in the area because I knew a salesman there. He is family removed, flipped over and turned around, but part of the family non-the-less. At very least we know each other more than Joe Schmo on the street. He was aware of my credit issues last year with resulted from the issues my son had at birth. So we agreed that it would be better for him to run the check before we went further. When he came back he said “Well, I cannot tell you your score but I can say that those who come in with a score under 500 get a very high interest rate. Also, if you are going to get a car anywhere it will have to be here because I can talk to the owner an he can talk to GMAC to “push” the deal through”. I’m smarter than the average bear at very least. I got my score it’s well, well over 500. Out with that dealer!

So long story short – I am picking up my brand new 2008 Pontiac G6 tonight! Okay, it’s a step down from the Grand Prix but I really do not need such a large car and I am sure I will get a little better gas mileage. Plus, I got all the fixin’s, remote start, chrome accents, etc. Get this, $500 down I’ll be paying $250 / month. Believe it or not I am paying $215 / month on the Gran Prix. Times were different back then in 2005 I guess. I’ll post a photo when I get it.

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